Romney Statement on the Ground Zero Mosque

Ben Smith of Politico rounds up the statements of potential 2012ers regarding the building of a mosque at Ground Zero. Among the entries is a statement from Mitt Romney’s official spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom:

Governor Romney opposes the construction of the mosque at Ground Zero. The wishes of the families of the deceased and the potential for extremists to use the mosque for global recruiting and propaganda compel rejection of this site.

Very short and precisely to the point, in expected Romney fashion. And, of course, he is exactly right.

Extended info on the Ground Zero Mosque (the Cordoba House) can be found at Wikipedia.

~Nate G.

UPDATE by Jayde:Raheel Raza, a Muslim woman born in Pakistan, now residing in Canada, who is the author of Their Jihad, Not My Jihad, was a guest on Bill O’Reilly’s The Factor last night. She voiced her opposition to the Ground Zero mosque:

Raza:

Building a mosque or a place of worship in particular spot across the street from Ground Zero is a slap in the face upon Americans. I mean, New Yorkers have experienced this pain, and the people who are behind this project are themselves Americans and New Yorkers. I can’t begin to imagine how they would even conceive an idea that building a mosque there, which is an exclusive place of prayer for Muslims, would in any way build tolerance and respect.

Mayor Bloomberg and other bleeding-heart white liberals like him don’t understand the battle that we moderate Muslims are faced with in terms of confronting radical Islam and Islamization and political Islam in North America, which has only grown since 9/11 because of political correctness and people because of their politically-invested agenda not speaking out against issues like this.

Bill O’Reilly complimented Raza for expressing “the most articulate indictment of this whole crazy thing that I have ever heard.”

Nate owns and manages a small souvenir manufacturing business. He and his wife of 12 years have 2 children. Nate has been blogging for Mitt Romney since late 2006 and is co-founder and editor of MittRomneyCentral.com.View Posts | View Profile

22 Responses to Romney Statement on the Ground Zero Mosque

LANGUAGE IS EVERYTHING, IF YOU WANT TO WIN THE MEDIA WAR. We need to start calling this travesty by its proper name- exactly just what it is, not some wimpy watered down PC term like, “The Mosque at Ground Zero”. NO, LET’S ALL CALL IT PRECISELY WHAT IT IS, FOLKS: “THE MASS MURDER MOSQUE”.

It’s important for us to make a stand on this one. The people behind the building of this mosque are thriving on the indulgence of our “understanding,” trying to use our own laws and ideals against us. The people who died in that attack are not looked at by extremists as victims, but casualties. Too many more extremists will be drawn to such a site as a mark of victory in their jihad.

How about respecting the First Amendment? And how about using all of that energy you expend on hate to investigate the controlled demolition of the THREE WTC towers that fell on 9/11? They are building a community center, the mosque was built years ago. Look it up.

@Anne
so let me guess….President Bush was playing golf with Osama bin Laden using the Cuban guys who shot JFK as caddies in a double against a Roswell alien and the head of the Bilderbergs when he got the detonator from the Scientologists and permission from the Pope?

@Dan
Wow Dan, tinfoil hat much? I don’t know about any of that, but I do. Know that what we were told about 9/11 was not true by looking at the evidence. Do you allow someone to tell you that an apple is an orange? Most likely not. Then why allow people to tell you that those buildings came down in some way other than controlled demolition? Use your eyes and read the links I posted above. There is no speculation as to who did it, just proof that warrants a new investigation. Firefighters were alive on the 70th floor and saw no fires just one minute before collapse. That alone blows the whole gov’t story into the realm of fairy tales. The men who wrote the commission report have gone on record against their own work. Look into it.

Regarding Zombie followers: I think you should take that point and turn it right back at yourself. I and others have found things to criticize Romney on, and have written it here. I’ve yet to see you or anyone at C4P criticize or simply not agree with something Palin has done. That is hero worship of the same mode that got Obama elected.

It’s too bad. It seems that someone as smart and conservative as yourself would see the value in trying to work together to take down Obama in 2012. Instead you’d rather reap your destruction everywhere you go, completely unaware of the harm you do to Palin, the GOP, and the conservative movement. Why do you insist on repulsing everyone that doesn’t agree with you? It’s very childish.

Wow, you people are really insane. I am so flabbergasted by this issue that I wondered if mr Romney might have a measured, intelligent opinion. Unfortunately, quite the opposite. He’s getting on board with an idiotic purely poll-driven opinion. And coming from a Mormon no less. Opportunistic religious bigotry.

@Brian
Sorry Brian, but you don’t seem to understand Romney. He has discussed issues like this in great detail in his book. His statement is purely consistent with what he wrote in his book, which he happened to write many months before this issue surfaced on the mainstream.

Your accusation of opportunism is totally bunk. As for religious bigotry, it has nothing to do with that. His statement comes from the viewpoint of national security.

“Sorry Brian, but you don’t seem to understand Romney”
Brian doesn’t understand Romney? Do Loki and Graham? So far their comments have gone unchallenged.

I’m a Mormon who has not always agreed with Romney but has always liked him. Today I’m really ashamed for him and ashamed for our people, that he and Sen. Reid have refused to stand up for the dearest of all constitutional principles. Have they sold out the last shred of principle they have for political ambition? It can’t be that Romney really doesn’t understand the value of practicing your faith without threat of protest and pressure from the mob, because there’s no Mormon in the world who doesn’t understand that. What other explanation is there?

Today I feel that the salt has really lost its savor. If Mormons can’t be counted on the stand up against the most obviously bigoted mob mentalities, what good are we? Are we nothing more than clean-living replicas of all the other demagogues and opportunists out there? Would Romney have joined a 19th century Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich in opposing the contruction of Mormon temples, one of which was built near a site of religious violence (in Washington County, Utah)? Would he join with Americans who still today oppose the construction of temples, through intimidation, protest and lawsuits–simply because they’re offended by our religion? If so, then he should be ashamed to call himself Mormon. If not, then he’s a party to religious bigotry that picks on the weaker religion when it’s politically convenient.

“National security” is the most horrifying reason of all. Who gets to decide that the excercise of your basic liberties is a threat to national security, with no specific evidence at all? Anyone who’s not among the favored groups of right-wing Republicans should hope and pray that it’s not Romney who gets to decide.

“THE MASS MURDER MOSQUE”.
Does Romney think the U.S. at war with Islam in general, or think that any mosque is a symbol of mass murder? Surely one of his supporters can answer the question. but maybe they don’t want to, because any principled stand against a conservative position, no matter how vile, is bad for the cause and only helps the “Obama for President re-election committee”.

How about the “magic underwear fun house”? How about the “polygamist bordello”? Isn’t it neat how we can intimidate and marginalize religious minorities by making up offensive, ignorant names for them and their religous practices? Is that what Romney supporters really go for? This is just a comment thread–I imagine a Romney supporter can distance their candidate from this really vile stuff without it doing too much damage to “the cause”. What say you?

Jeremiah, this has nothing to do with “our people”. Your argument is based on the religion issue which I don’t even care for.

YES, national security is reason enough to be concerned over this development. As for who gets to decide on such issues, I don’t know. You can see that Romney doesn’t offer any comment on “who gets to say”. You are simply wrong when you say it’s a religious bigotry issue. I’ll repeat what I’ve said to Brian: you don’t know Romney well enough. The “specific evidences” are discussed at great length in his book. His views don’t come from a deep-seed hatred or fear of Islam but a sober understanding of radical jihadists. I’m afraid you won’t fully understand him until you read his book.

You and I can disagree on whether radical Jihad is a threat, but until you realize that our views stem from the fact that there is evil in the world that seeks to do the West great harm, then we are at an impasse. I have absolutely no problem with peace-loving Islam; I have a major problem with radical jihadists who feel I have no right to live. Ground-zero is a testament to the fact that they exist.

I have no desire to distance myself from Governor Romney on this issue because I believe he’s exactly right.

I doubt Romney hates Islam or Muslim people. In many ways he seems like a fair, thoughtful person. But what matters is whether he stands for equal liberty for all religions, or whether he’s supporting a kind of special pleading whereby we restrict religious freedom for some religions based on principles that we would never apply to our own religion. No Christian would agree that building a house of worship near a site of Christian religious terrorism is offensive or that it confirms or endorses religious terrorism. In fact Christians would argue that the opposite is true, just as the sponsors of the Cordoba House are doing now. Religious terrorism offends me. Houses of worship don’t offend me at all.

I completely agree that there is evil in the world, and that radical jihadists fight for an evil cause. I guess I could read a whole book to discover why that means religious Americans who have not been found guilty of any crime and have not declared any hostility to the United States can’t exercise their rights to worship as they please, but I suspect that a shorter version of the argument could be made. Is there a national security threat in having mosques in Washington DC? In the Pentagon? This no-mosque perimeter around Ground Zero seems arbitrary and ad hoc.

Most people agree that the people behind this mosque have a right to build it if everything behind it is legal, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I have the right to call every person I see on the street a jerk, but that doesn’t mean I should. The mosque shouldn’t be built there and I hope the people behind the mosque do the right thing and decide not the build it there.

There is a war going on, fyi… and we were attacked under a RELIGIOUS context. The radical Muslims who smashed those planes into the twin towers hope that people like you don’t understand the difference or know your history about them building “Victory Mosques” over their conquests over the centuries. It can be used as a tool to encourage and recruit terrorists, which is a national defense issue. Romney also has rights to speak his position which you don’t seem to care too much about.

And just because something is Constitutional, it doesn’t always mean it’s the wisest choice in general. For instance… building a monument to KKK members over the spot where black Civil Rights activists were killed. Yes, you can, but should you, if you have any sensibility at all? Can’t LEGALLY stop it but people have every CONSTITUTIONAL and MORAL right to oppose it. Who cares if you are a Mormon, does that make you someone special? Harry Reid is, too, and he opposes Romney on most things.

And comparing this Imam to righteous moderate Muslims is an offense to them, he wants to bring Sharia Law to this country which violates the most basic human rights and our Constitution. He also blamed us for those attacks. YOU are the bigot if you think all Muslims in this country are like that.

If anyone wants to “build a bridge” of understanding, this isn’t the way to do it. They also don’t have a Muslim community of people in that area, so why is THIS PARTICULAR GROUP choosing to build their community center there? Understanding has nothing to do with it, neither does care for the people whose families were killed or our country, which was attacked horrifically and whose rights they are trying to take advantage of despite the distress and trouble they are causing.

This whole thing reeks and so did your post slandering anyone who opposes it. I know that is now Obama’s and the liberal’s platform, just call people “bigots” who don’t approve of anything he does to silence and oppress them, rob them of their own rights to free speech and thought, and hide the dishonest or abusive people behind the decent ones in any ethnic or religious group to justify it. Get real.

@Jeremiah J.
I am a mormon also and I agree whole heartedly that the Radical Muslims have the right under the law to build a mosque there as long as they follow all building requirements that the city, county and/or state require. The issue is sensitivity! Muslims have a history of building mosques on the site of a destroyed church or converting an existing church in to a mosque in a captured territory. The building that they are replacing was damaged in the 9/11 attacks. the following web site says all this alot better than I can! http://www.evangelicalsformitt.org/